Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe (German for Air Weapon) was Nazi Germany's airforce that was unveiled in 1935 and later demilitarized in 1945. Overview At the beginning of the war, the Luftwaffe was one of the most powerful, advanced, and experienced airforces on the planet. The main fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe was the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The Luftwaffe also included planes such as the Ju 87 Dive Bomber, Heinkel He 111, Dornier Do 335, Focke Wulf Fw 190, Dornier Do 17, Junkers Ju 88, Henschel Hs 129, Heinkel He 177 and the Junkers Ju 52. The Luftwaffe became very effective when used in German tactics such as Blitzkrieg. This is why for the beginning of World War II the Luftwaffe ruled the skies. However the Luftwaffe later lost The Battle of Britain which then marked a steady decline of effectiveness by the Luftwaffe, especially after waves of bombers surrounding by support fighters flew over Nazi Germany towards the end of the war. Even so, the Luftwaffe was used throughout World War II in campaigns such as the Eastern Front. .]] History Before the War The initial foundations of the Luftwaffe were actually put in place in 1920 when General Hans von Seeckt, Chief of Army Command at the Defense Ministry, secreted a small group or regular officers into the various sections of the Ministry which were clandestinely dealing wholly and exclusively with aviation matters. Page 8 The exclusion of a clause in the Treaty of Versailles, prohibiting the mass production of civil aircraft, allowed the Germans to carry out an unprecedented expansion of civil aviation, resulting in the unhindered development of aircraft and training of aircrews. This led in 1926 to the founding of the German state airline Deutsche Lufthansa, resulting in the development of airfields, flying instruments and radio navigation aids.Wood, Tony and Bill Gunston. 1997. Page 9 Operational units of the Luftwaffe were initially shared out between four Luftflotten (Air fleets): *Luftflotte 1, headquartered in Berlin under the command of General de Fliger Albert Kesselring, responsible for units in North East Germany, *Luftflotte 2, headquartered in Brunswick under the command of General de Fliger Helmut Felmy, responsible for units in North West Germany, *Luftflotte 3, headquartered in Munich under the command of General de Fliger Hugo Sperrle, responsible for units in South West Germany, and *Luftflotte 4, headquartered in Vienna under the command of General de Fliger Alexander Lohr, responsible for units in South East Germany, Austria and Czechoslovskia. Page 14 The Phoney War On 2 September, 1939, the Luftwaffe's front line units possessed 3,659 serviceable aircraft, of which less that half (1,550 to 1,600) were earmarked for the attack on Poland. . These were assigned to the four Luftflotten (Air fleets) and the Lehrdivision,Price, Alfred. 1997. Page 20 Blitzkrieg The Battle of Britain The Luftwaffe Quartermaster report for 17 August 1940 stated that front line units possessed 3,157 front line aircraft The Blitz North Africa and The Mediterranean Following the Italian Armistice with the Allies in September 1943, the Luftwaffe seized hundreds of Italian aircraft. By March 1944, many of these had been passed to the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. Page 75 The Russian Front Preparation Luftwaffe preparations for the eventual Invasion of Russia were started in October 1940, with Luftwaffe works units and construction material being moved to newly captured Polish territory during the remainder of the year. Construction of air bases and fuel dumps, together with the deployment of flak units, were well under way by early spring 1941, followed by preparations to receive combat units started in April and May. By mid June, this had resulted in the transfer of 2,770 out of 4,300 front line aircraft, comprising 775 bombers, 310 Stukas, 830 Bf 109s, 90 Bf 110s and 765 reconnaissance and coastal aircraft.Wood, Tony and Bill Gunston. 1997. Page 40 D-Day and afterwards The Luftwaffe Quartermaster report for 31 May 1944, the last before the D-Day landings, showed that front line units possessed 4,928 serviceable aircraft. Price, Alfred. 1997. Page 92 On the first day of the invasion, the Luftwaffe mounted 100 fighter sorties and 175 bomber sorties, compared to the 14,674 flown by the Allies, with Luftwaffe aircraft being conspicuous over the beaches by their absence.Wood, Tony and Bill Gunston. Page 108 Codewords The Luftwaffe used a number of standard codewords in their radio transmissions. Page 60. References Sources Category:Militaries Category:Air Forces Category:Wehrmacht Category:Luftwaffe